WHEN, in 1984, Ron and Deilwen Breese bought Gogarth Hall, near Machynlleth, they settled into a life already familiar to them.

In the late 1980s however, rising bank interest rates forced the couple to ponder new ideas for generating extra income.

Like so many farmers in Snowdonia, they decided tourism offered opportunities for an 800-acre holding whose main selling point was its location: close to the A493, with views across the Dyfi Estuary and beyond.

First step was to open Gogarth Hall - built around 1747 - as a B&B in 1987. The next was to make use of several old stone buildings on the farm complex. In 1990 the old coach house was opened as a holiday cottage, followed by a barn and two farm cottages.

The experiment has been a resounding success: holiday bookings now account for 35-40pc of overall farm revenue, 30 weeks' accommodation are already taken for 2004 (and one in 2005).

On Monday the couple received official recognition for their work when they won the 2003 Royal Welsh Farm Buildings and Works competition, getting the Peniarth Estate Silver Trowel, a certificate and prize card at the Royal Welsh showground.

"It's brilliant to get an award like this," said Mrs Breese, 49, who chairs the FUW Farm Tourism Committee. "We've had a wonderful summer, with bookings so high we've had to turn people away.

"And a couple of weeks ago we were nominated by the Welsh Assembly to attend the Royal tea party at Buckingham Palace.

"From the outset we were determined to put the emphasis on quality when converting the buildings. And I think we've been proved right - if you get quality, you will get the custom."

The competition was this year confined to Meirionnydd, the feature county at the 2003 Royal Welsh show.

Meirionnydd, a county rich in well-built traditional stone farm buildings, provided the judges with a wide choice. All the farms visited were in Snowdonia National Park, where plan-ning rules are at their most rigorous.

In their citation, the judges concluded: "Gog-arth Hall provided not only spacious, well-designed and aesthetically pleasing accommodation, but also a balance between its courtyard development and the adjoining farm buildings."

Farming remains the core business at Gogarth, which runs 1,200 Welsh Mountain ewes and 28 suckler cattle. When the Breeses first arrived at the farm, it had just 400 sheep and 18 cattle.

It has been in the Tir Cymen environment scheme for 10 years and, within the next few weeks, the Breeses hope to discover whether their application to join Tir Gofal has been successful.

The tourism venture has also helped retain Gogarth as a family farm. The Breeses' two sons, John, 25, and Arwyn, 23, help manage the livestock while their 29-year-old daughter Marian - a tourism graduate - advises on the holiday side.

Next stop is the conversion of an old listed barn, one of only a handful of its type in Gwynedd, and, though County planners are casting a careful eye over the proposals, Mrs Breese is confident it will get the go-ahead. She does most of the designing, her husband does most of the building and they have been careful to retain original character.

"We would never have embarked on this venture if we couldn't have done the work ourselves," she said. "We've had some small Wales Tourist Board grants but apart from some join-ery and electrical work, Ron's done most it himself.

"Nowadays people are buying up properties and spending fortunes on their conversions, but I can't see how you can get a return on that kind of investment."